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TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Nick Saban isn’t taking suggestions on how to handle Alabama's quarterback position this week as Tua Tagovailoa (knee) and Jalen Hurts (ankle) deal with their respective injuries. Although, if the head coach was open to new ideas, Jarvis Payne has one that worked pretty well in the past.
Don’t worry, Payne, a high school head coach in Oklahoma, has no intentions of telling Saban how to run his offense. However, he does have a history with one of Alabama’s biggest offensive weapons. Payne coached Crimson Tide running back Josh Jacobs during high school, including his senior season in which the two led McClain High School to its only playoff appearance in the past seven years.
During that season, Jacobs earned all-state honors, rushing for 2,704 yards and 31 touchdowns while averaging an eye-popping 15.1 yards per carry over 11 games. Almost all those yards came from the quarterback position as Payne put his star athlete behind center in a revamped Wildcat offense.
Payne switched from a spread attack before Jacobs’ senior season in an attempt to get the three-star back more attention on the recruiting scene. The logic was simple — eliminate the middle man and get Jacobs the ball as many times as possible.
“I knew he could do it, but I didn’t realize he’d be that great at it,” Payne said. “Once I saw, it was like, ‘Man, there’s so much we can do with you.’ It just fell into place, and people really had a hard time defending it.
“He’s a natural in that package. His vision is impeccable, and he makes good decisions. He can actually throw the ball a little bit out of that, too. He’s the full package because he’s so versatile. With him, you get speed and power. He’s the perfect guy to run the Wildcat.”
While no one expects Alabama to transform its offense around Jacobs this week, Saban has dabbled with the Wildcat formation the past two games.
It started against LSU as Jacobs took a snap on a fourth-and-1 from the Tigers’ 16-yard line, picking up four yards to extend a drive which eventually resulted in a 23-yard field goal. Last week, he motioned Tagovailoa out wide on a third-and-1 from the Mississippi State 49-yard line before trucking two defenders for a 10-yard gain on Alabama’s opening touchdown drive.
“It’s smooth,” Jacobs said following the game. “We’ve still got a lot of crinks and wrinkles to it, but it’s 2-for-2, so it’s all right.”
As for if we’ll be seeing the formation more in the future?
“Maybe,” Jacobs shrugged.
Alabama isn’t about to give away any of its secrets. While head coach Nick Saban wasn’t ready to commit either, it sounds as if Jacobs hasn’t taken his last snap behind center this season.
“I like whatever’s successful,” Saban said. “OK, so as long as we’re successful in it I like it. As soon as we’re unsuccessful in it, I won’t like it as much. Is that fair enough?”
Last week, Jacobs took the snap with tight end Irv Smith Jr. serving as the upback while fellow running back Damien Harris lined up stacked behind receiver Jerry Jeudy on the outside. Smith blocked a linebacker coming around the left edge, allowing Jacobs to cut to the outside of left tackle Jonah Williams while picking up enough momentum to barrel over a defender at the line of scrimmage. Against LSU, Jacobs lined up beside Harris before taking the snap and bursting through the B gap between right guard Alex Leatherwood and right tackle Jedrick Wills.
In both instances, Tagovailoa was sent out wide. Even though Alabama has yet to use the starting quarterback in the formation, his presence must still be accounted for. That gives the Crimson Tide one less blocker to worry about.
“Most of the time you’re not covering the quarterback when he’s getting the ball. So you have one less (defender),” Saban explained. “You have the same number of blockers and then have one less man on defense, to defend with. That’s math.”
The formation also makes it difficult for opposing defenders to pick up any of their keys and allows Jacobs an extra moment to scan the defense before hitting his hole. Those advantages paired with the 5-foot-10, 216-pound back’s bruising running style seem unfair.
“Last week in practice they did it to me and Mack (Wilson), caught us off guard and ran down the middle on us,” Alabama linebacker Dylan Moses said. “It’s a good piece to the offense, and I feel like they’ll probably keep doing that.”
If Alabama really wants to exploit its opponents, it's only scratching the surface in terms of possibilities. According to Payne, Jacobs is surprisingly accurate with his arm and often caught opposing defenses sleeping for big gains. Originally, Payne had Jacobs throw simple drag routes to the outside to keep defenders from stacking the box. Although, he soon realized he could afford to “get a little greedy” on occasion.
“By the first or second game of the season, it was like, ‘Oh, we’ve got a real quarterback,’” Payne said. “I think a lot of opposing teams looked at it like he was just a runner, and they’d try to load the box. He’s shocked a lot of people with his throwing ability.
“Sometimes he threw it so hard some of our kids couldn’t catch it. I know he can throw at least 50 or 60 yards with ease, and that’s with a tight spiral. It’s not hard for him at all because he has those big hands.”
Alabama was cautious to keep Jacobs’ passing prowess under wraps this week. A university representative even stepped in when Jeudy was asked if he’d ever seen the back attempt a pass in practice.
“We’re not going to go into that,” the representative interjected before the receiver could say a word.
Even Jacobs is playing coy about the possibility of using his arm.
“I don’t know,” Jacobs said. “I haven’t really thrown a ball in three years. I couldn’t tell you for real.”
Right now, that’s up to Saban. It’s just another suggestion for the head coach to consider as he mulls over new ways to keep opposing defenses guessing moving forward.
